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SHAKESPEARE 

The  World's  Greatest  Psychist 


~THe 


OF 


"N/VERSITY 


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The  World's  Greatest. 
PSYCMIST 

DB.  J.  BALL. 

— Author  of — 

*  *  Tlie  Foundations  of  Life,  * '   *  *  Dreams  and  Visions,  * ' 

•* Heaven  and  Hell,**  *'The  Fountain  of 

Youth,*'  *' Spirits,**  ''Paradise,** 

etc.,  etc .  etc. 


Price,  25  cents 


— Published  by — 
J.  Ball, San  Francisco,  Cal. 


^'u\y 


Copyright,    1909.      By   John   Ball,    M.    D.,    D.    Psy. 


SHAKESPEARE: 

The  World's  Greatest  Psychist. 


HEN  Hamlet  said  to  Horatio  ^  ^  There  are 
more  things  iu  heaven  and  earth  than 
are  dreamt  of  in  your  philosophy," 
Shakespeare  expressed  his  own  views  in  his  own 
characteristic  way.  In  Hamlet's  soliloquy,  ^*To 
be  or  not  to  be,"  in  w^hich  he  refers  to  death  as 
an  undiscovered  country,  from, whose  bourne  no 
traveler  returns,  Shakespeare  does  not  express 
his  own  views,  but  those  of  Hamlet,  whose  mind 
had  not  yet  solved  the  problems  of  life  and  death. 
For  how  could  Shakespeare  think  of  death  as 
leading  to  a  country  frou.  ^  no  travel- 

er returns  wlien  in  this  saiiiC  plaj  J^  's  father 

does  return?     The  truth  is  !■  -^^   ^'  are  not 

only  understood  human  llic  .  lan  be- 

fore him  understood  it,  but  he  had  also  solved  the 

186994 


4  SHAKESPEAEE: 

mystery  of  death  and  the  life  that  lies  beyond  it. 
The  Tangle  of  Life. 

No  man  can  delve  very  far  into  the  mysteries 
of  life  without  becoming  lost  in  a  labyrinth  of 
seemingly  endless  confusion.  The  mind  becomes 
distracted  trying  to  unravel  the  intricate  tangle 
of  life.  It  wants  rest,  or  at  least  something  tan- 
gible to  hold  on  to  while  it  prepares  for  a  fresh 
start.  This  is  the  experience  of  every  mind  in 
its  search  for  truth.  Most  minds  give  up  the 
struggle  almost  at  the  outset  and  accept  some 
form  of  religion,  or  some  system  of  philosophy, 
and  let  it  go  at  that.  Others,  as  Herbert  Spencer, 
formulate  a  philosophical  system  of  their  own; 
but  this  is  always  unsatisfactory,  because  no  sys- 
tem of  philosophy  can  possibly  circumscribe  the 
infinite.  A  few,  like  Shakespeare,  solve  these 
problems  for  themselves,  and  at  the  same  time 
realize  that  they  are  problems  which  every  mind 
must  work  out  for  itself. 

The  Mystery  of  Death. 

But  whichever  way  we  look  at  this  subject,  it 
must  be  self-evident  to  every  thinking  mind  that 
Shakespeare,  who  was  so  profoundly  interested 
in  every  phase  of  human  life,  must  have  been  just 


THE   WORLD'S   GREATEST   PSYCHIST.  5 

as  deeply  interested  in  the  subject  of  death.  And 
it  is  only  necessary  to  look  into  his  writings  with 
this  object  in  view,  to  learn  that  he  had  studied 
this  subject  to  such  good  purpose  that  he  clearly 
understood  the  change  which  we  all  pass  through 
at  death,  when  we  enter  upon  a  higher  state  of  ex- 
istence, with  more  congenial  surroundings  and 
better  conditions  of  life.  And  it  is  just  this  prob- 
lem of  death  which  is  so  perplexing  to  the  earnest 
student  of  life;  because  it  constitutes  a  sort  of 
Chinese  wall,  beyond  which  his  mind  is  unable  to 
penetrate  with  such  imperfect  tools  as  his  religion 
or  his  philosophy  allows  him  to  use. 
The  Continuity  of  Life. 
In  all  his  tragedies,  and  most  of  his  other  plays, 
Shakespeare  constantly  reminds  us  of  the  intimate 
relations  which  exist  between  this  life  and  that  to 
which  those  have  gone  who  have  passed  through 
the  portals  of  death.  In  Hamlet,  Othello,  Julius 
Caesar,  Richard  III,  The  Tempest,  and  other  plays, 
this  subject  is  frequently  referred  to ;  but  it  is  in 
Macbeth  where  Shakespeare  shows  most  clearly 
that  the  relationship  existing  between  this  life  and 
that  which  death  ushers  us  into,  was  perfectly  un- 
derstood by  him.  This  life  is  only  a  preparatory 
one.    Death  is  an  essential  step  in  our  develop- 


t)  SHAKESPEAEE: 

ment.  We  must  die ;  we  must  get  rid  of  this  body, 
before  we  can  reach  a  state  of  perfect  develop- 
ment and  become  what  nature  intends  us  to  be- 
come— a  living,  self-reliant  soul  or  spirit  having 
within  itself  the  power  to  get  everything  which  it 
requires  for  its  own  eternal  welfare. 

Death  Sets  the  Spirit  Free. 

Throughout  his  writings,  Shakespeare  leaves  us 
in  no  doubt  as  to  what  his  answer  would  be  to  the 
query,  ''If  a  man  die,  shall  he  live  again?''  But 
does  he  furnish  us  with  any  evidence  that  he  knew 
just  what  the  process  of  death  is?  He  does.  In 
the  play  of  Macbeth  Banquo  is  murdered  just  be- 
fore he  appears  at  the  banquet  table.  His  ghost, 
or  spirit,  appears  just  as  it  left  his  body ;  with  all 
the  marks  of  his  wounds  still  visible.  Hence,  Mac- 
beth's  exclamation.  "Never  shake  thy  gory  locks 

at  me!'' 

The  New  Biith. 

We  all  enter  this  world  by  the  same  essential 
process  of  birth,  and  we  all  leave  it  by  the  same 
essential  process  of  death.  We  may  die  suddenly, 
or  be  killed  by  accident,  or  die  peacefully  in  bed ; 
but  the  process  we  pass  tlirougli  and  the  end  we  ar- 
rive at  is  the  same  for  everybody.     At  birth  we 


THE   WORLD'S   GREATEST   PSYCHIST.  7 

arrive  here  as  a  new-born  babe ;  at  death  we  ar- 
rive in  the  spirit  world  as  a  new-born  spirit.  No 
doubt,  in  a  violent  death,  such  as  Banquo^s  was, 
the  shock  overwhelms  the  spirit  and  it  enters  the 
spirit  world  in  a  dazed  and  semiconscious  condi- 
tion. Shakespeare  intimates  as  much  in  the  de- 
scription which  Macbeth  gives  of  the  ghost:  ''Thy 
bones  are  marrowless,  thy  blood  is  cold ;  thou  hast 
no  speculation  in  those  eyes  which  thou  dost  glare 

with!'' 

Ghosts. 

All  Shakespeare's  ghosts  had  met  with  violent 
deaths.  These  are  almost  the  only  spirits  who 
have  a  motive  strong  enough  to  hold  them  near 
the  earth.  When  Banquo  was  being  murdered 
he  knew  that  Macbeth  was  the  instigator  of  the 
crime.  Hence,  his  exclamation  to  his  son:  ''Oh, 
treachery!  Fly,  good  Fleance,  fly!  Thou  may'st 
revenge!"  And  it  was  the  strength  of  this  im- 
pression of  his  former  friend's  treachery  that  car- 
ried his  new-born  spirit  into  Macbeth 's  presence, 
with  the  twenty  mortal  gashes  on  his  head  which 
had  caused  his  death. 

Hamlet's  Father's  Ghost. 

The  ghost  of  Hamlet's  father  was  impelled  by 


8  SHAKESPEARE: 

the  altogether  unworthy  motive  of  revenge.  After 
inciting  Hamlet  to  help  him  in  his  devilish  work 
of  vengeance  by  saying,  *'If  thou  didst  ever  thy 
dear  father  love,  revenge  his  foul  and  most  un- 
natural murder,''  the  ghost  cautions  him  thus: 
**  Taint  not  thy  mind  nor  let  thy  soul  contrive 
against  thy  mother  aught;  leave  her  to  heaven 
and  to  those  thorns  that  in  her  bosom  lodge  to 
prick  and  sting  her."  Why  did  not  the  ghost 
leave  his  brother's  punishment  to  heaven  and  the 
prickings  of  his  conscience?  Because  Shakes- 
peare knew  that  if  the  ghost  of  Hamlet's  father 
had  reached  a  stage  of  development  where  he 
could  realize  the  eternal  truth — that  it  is  not  our 
business  to  punish  our  enemies — he  would  not, 
and  could  not  have  returned  to  earth  as  a  ghost. 
A  Ghost  Is  an  EvU  Spirit. 
A  ghost  always  comes  for  a  sinister  purpose, 
and  therefore  is,  necessarily,  an  evil  spirit.  The 
ghost  of  Caesar  was  naturally  enough  concerned 
in  the  downfall  of  Brutus  and  the  triumph  of  his 
own  political  friends.  Nevertheless,  as  he  says 
himself,  he  was  an  evil  spirit  to  Brutus.  Ghostly 
visits  are  volitional.  That  is,  the  spirit  returns  to 
earth  to  get  even  with  somebody,  or  to  carry  out 
some  other  unworthy  purpose.    No  doubt,  Caesar 


THE   WORLD'S   GREATEST   PSYCHIST.  9 

justified  himself,  under  the  circumstances,  in  vis- 
iting Brutus.  But  a  ghost  always  has  the  cards 
stacked  and  the  dice  loaded  in  his  own  favor.  He 
always  has  his  adversary  at  a  disadvantage.  He 
waits  till  he  has  got  him  on  the  brink  of  a  preci- 
pice, and  then  appears  and  tells  him  that  he  has 
got  him  where  he  wants  him  and  then  pushes  him 
over.  Under  such  circumstances,  perhaps  the 
best  we  can  do  is  to  follow  the  example  of  Brutus, 
who  says:  *'The  ghost  of  Caesar  hath  appeared  to 
me  two  separate  times  by  night :  I  know  my  hour 
is  come.  Our  enemies  have  beat  us  to  the  pit:  it 
is  more  worthy  to  leap  in  ourselves  than  to  tarry 
till  they  push  us. '  * 

Apparitions. 

Banquo's  ghost  was  not  a  real  ghost,  but  an 
apparition.  An  apparition  does  not  appear  voli- 
tionally.  When  a  man  meets  with  a  sudden  and 
violent  death,  his  spirit  will  immediately  visit  the 
person  he  is  most  strongly  attached  to.  The  spir- 
it of  a  man  killed  in  an  accident,  and  having  no 
strong  attachment  for  any  particular  person,  will 
stay  around  the  scene  of  the  accident  till  he  can 
pull  himself  together,  and  gain  control  of  his  new- 
ly developed  psychic  faculties.  In  the  play  of 
Romeo  and  Juliet,  after  having  tried  in  vain  to 


10  SHAKESPEARE: 

avoid  a  quarrel  with  Tybalt,  who  has  just  killed 
Mercutio,  Romeo  says:  *'Now,  Tybalt,  take  the 
villain  back  again  that  late  thou  gav'st  me,  for 
Mercutio 's  soul  is  but  a  little  way  above  our  heads 
and  thou  or  I  must  keep  him  company/'  Romeo 
had  no  doubt  of  his  soul's  existence  after  the  death 
of  the  body.  Neither  had  Hamlet.  For  when 
Horatio  tried  to  prevent  him  following  the  ghost, 
Hamlet  said:  *'Why,  what  should  be  the  fear?  I 
do  not  set  my  life  at  a  pin's  fee,  and  for  my  soul, 
what  can  it  do  to  that,  being  a  thing  immortal  as 
itself?"  Again,  King  John  says:  ** Within  this 
wall  of  flesh  there  is  a  soul."  It  is  evident  that, 
to  Shakespeare,  the  soul  is  a  distinct  entity,  and 
that  at  death  it  leaves  the  body  with  all  the  attri- 
butes and  functions  of  life  intact.  And  the  play 
of  Hamlet  clearly  shows  that  if  a  spirit  clings  to 
the  scenes  of  its  former  life  it  will  be  actuated  by 
the  same  selfish  and  unworthy  motives  that  make 
human  life  in  the  aggregate  seem  so  sordid  and 
unlovable.  Hamlet's  glowing  tribute  to  his  fath- 
er may  have  fitted  him  physically,  but  his  ghost 
never  manifested  any  such  moral  qualities  as  the 
eulogium  calls  for.  How  could  a  really  good  man 
or  spirit  say  of  itself  *'I  am  thy  father's  spirit, 
doomed  for  a  certain  term  to  walk  the  night,  and 


THE   WOELD^S   GREATEST   PSYOHIST.  11 

for  the  day  confined  to  fast  in  fires,  till  the  foul 
crimes  done  in  the  body  are  burnt  and  purged 
away''? 

Words  Express  Ideas. 

Most  people,  when  they  read  Shakespeare,  read 
words,  without  troubling  themselves  to  find  out 
what  Shakespeare  meant  the  words  to  imply.  Had 
Shakespeare  openly  defended  the  Jews,  the  Mer- 
chant of  Venice  would  have  been  hissed  off  the 
stage.  Shakespeare  veils  the  truth  to  suit  the 
ignorance  and  intolerance  of  the  people  of  his 
time.  When  he  wrote  Romeo  and  Juliet  he  had 
already  solved  the  problems  of  life  and  death. 
Death,  in  itself,  is  neither  a  punishment  nor  a  mis- 
fortune; and  Shakespeare  deals  out  death  to  his 
characters  in  much  the  same  way  as  Salvationists 
ladle  out  soup  to  the  guests  at  their  free  dinners. 

Hamlet  a  Universal  Type. 

Hamlet  said:  **The  times  are  out  of  joint.  Oh, 
cursed  spite,  that  ever  I  was  born  to  set  them 
right!''  The  times  are  just  as  much  out  of  joint 
now  as  they  were  in  Hamlet's  time.  The  times  al- 
ways have  been  out  of  joint,  and  always  will  be, 
as  long  as  people  think  it  is  their  business  to  set 
other  people's  business  right  and  neglect  their 


12  SHAKESPEARE: 

own.  Hamlet  started  out  to  set  things  right ;  and 
just  see  what  an  awful  mess  he  made  of  it.  After 
killing  off  all  the  principal  characters  of  the  play, 
and  going  down  himself  in  the  general  slaughter, 
he  leaves  it  as  a  legacy  to  his  best  friend  to  set 
matters  right.  Hamlet  and  his  work  are  a  univer- 
sal type.  And  the  graft  prosecution,  here  and  now 
in  San  Francisco,  are  doing  Hamlet ^s  work;  and 
doing  it  just  about  as  well  as  Hamlet  did  it.  The 
moral  is  clear  and  obvious — if  every  man  puts 
his  own  affairs  right,  there  can  be  nothing  wrong. 
Macbeth  a  Seer. 
In  the  play  of  Macbeth,  Shakespeare  draws 
aside  the  veil  which  hangs  between  this  world 
and  the  next  and  shuts  out  our  view  of  what  is 
going  on  behind  the  scenes  of  our  every-day  life. 
Macbeth  was  a  good  and  great  man  who  went 
wrong;  and  he  was  just  as  much  of  a  seer  as  the 
old  Hebrew  prophets  were.  Macbeth  fell  under 
the  influence  of  those  lying  spirits  which  St.  Paul 
warns  us  against,  and  w^hich  Macbeth  himself 
calls  ''Fiends  that  lie  like  the  truth.*'  **And  be 
these  juggling  fiends  no  more  believed  that  palter 
with  us  in  a  double  sense,  who  keep  the  word  of 
promise  to  our  ear  and  break  it  to  our  hope.*' 
Macbeth  also  shows  that  the  doctors  of  that  time 


/ 


THE   WORLD'S   GREATEST   PSYCHIST.  13 

were  much  like  the  doctors  of  today,  in  that  they 
pay  too  much  attention  to  mere  bodily  ills,  and 
neglect  those  of  the  mind  and  soul.  When  Mac- 
beth was  told  of  his  wife^s  troubles,  he  recognized 
them  as  akin  to  his  own.  These  were  cases  which 
his  doctor  did  not  understand.  Why,  Macbeth 
asks:  ** Canst  thou  not  minister  to  a  mind  dis- 
eased, pluck  from  the  memory  a  rooted  sorrow, 
raze  out  the  written  troubles  of  the  brain,  and 
with  some  sweet,  oblivious  antidote  cleanse  the 
stuff 'd  bosom  of  that  perilous  stuff  which  weighs 
upon  the  heart?  If  you  cannot  do  this,  then  throw 
thy  physic  to  the  dogs;  I'll  none  of  it.*'  The  log- 
ic is  clear  enough — you  cannot  cure  a  sick  soul 
by  doctoring  the  body.  And  the  lesson  of  the 
play  is — Do  not  be  led  by  spirits. 
Murder  WiU  Out. 
The  ghosts  which  visited  Richard  III  on  the 
eve  of  his  downfall  drive  home  the  fact  that  we  do 
not  get  rid  of  our  enemies  by  murdering  them. 
For,  as  Macbeth  says,  they  rise  again,  even  with 
twenty  mortal  murders  upon  their  heads,  and 
})ush  us  from  our  seats.  And  the  ghost  of  Julius 
Caesar  enforces  the  lesson,  that,  by  paying  up 
and  squaring  our  accounts,  as  Brutus  did,  we 
turn  an  enemy  into  a  friend.    For  T  am  quite  sure 


14  SHAKESPEARE: 

that  when  Brutus  met  Caesar  on  the  shores  of 
ghost  land  they  shook  hands  and  renewed  their 
former  friendship.  The  dying  words  of  Brutus, 
''Caesar,  now  be  still/'  are  characteristic  of 
Shakespeare,  and  reveal  to  us  the  underlying 
spiritual  purpose  which  runs  through  all  Shake- 
speare's tragedies.  Caesar  accomplished  the  pur- 
pose of  his  ghostly  visits.  Brutus,  by  his  death, 
laid  Caesar's  ghost.  And  together  their  spirits 
left  the  confines  of  the  earth  forever. 

Affinities. 
Brutus  and  Caesar  had  a  great  deal  of  admira- 
tion for  each  other.  There  was  a  strong  magnet- 
ic attraction  between  them.  The  same  magnetic 
force  existed  between  Macbeth  and  Banquo.  And 
the  same  conditions  were  present,  but  not  so  fully 
developed,  in  Hamlet  and  his  father.  In  Henry 
V  we  have  another  instance  of  this  soul-compan- 
ionship which  death  makes  stronger.  When  the 
duke  of  York  lay  dying  on  the  battlefield  of  Agin- 
court  by  the  side  of  the  Earl  of  Suffolk,  whose 
body  had  just  yielded  up  its  ghost,  the  duke  cries 
out  to  him,  ''Tarry,  dear  cousin,  my  soul  shall 
thine  keep  company  to  heaven." 
Eternal  Justice. 

In  King  Lear  Shakespeare  shows  us  how  justice 


/^    ^^Oi-THt 

THE   WOELD'S   GREATEST   PSYCHIST.  UNJlVERSIT 

finally  triumphs,  even  without  the  aid  of  judges, 
juries  or  prosecutors.  Lear  expiates  the  wrongs 
he  did  his  daughter  by  his  sufferings  and  anguish 
of  soul  after  his  elder  daughters  turned  him  out 
of  the  home  he  had  given  them.  The  Earl  of 
Gloster  expiated  the  injustice  he  had  done  his 
son  Edgar  by  the  mental  and  physical  suffering 
which  followed  the  destruction  of  his  eyes.  Ed- 
gar was  restored  to  all  his  rights,  and  Kent  was 
made  happy  in  the  knowledge  of  a  duty  well  per- 
formed. Edmund,  Goneril  and  Regan  were  pun- 
ished by  death,  which  robbed  them  of  everything 
they  had  been  plotting  and  scheming  for.  But 
why  did  Shakespeare  allow  Cordelia  to  be  hung? 
Death,  in  Shakespeare  ^s  view,  is  a  mere  incident 
of  life,  and  the  manner  of  our  death  is  of  no  con- 
sequence whatever.  It  does  not  matter  whether 
we  die  in  bed  or  on  the  gibbet,  or  in  a  train  wreck. 
The  essential  thing  is,  that  the  soul  quits  the  body 
for  all  time,  and  begins  a  new  and  higher  form 
of  life.  Cordelia  was  hung  in  her  father's  pres- 
ence, to  bring  him  back  to  his  right  mind,  and 
arouse  him  to  strike  in  her  defense.  Lear's  time 
had  come;  and  as  he  had  paid  the  penalty  of  his 
unjust  treatment  of  Cordelia,  she  went  with  him 
to  console  him  for  the  loss  of  his  other  daughter's. 


16  SHAKESPEARE: 

This,  too,  was  in  line  with  the  treatment  she  her- 
self had  received.  For,  when  her  father  disowned 
and  disinherited  her,  she  was  consoled  with  the 
love  of  a  husband  who  appreciated  to  the  full  the 
womanly  qualities  which  prevented  her  from  de- 
nouncing the  unnatural  conduct  of  her  sisters. 
Thus  Shakespeare  shows  'Hhat  ever  the  truth 
comes  uppermost  and  ever  is  justice  done.'' 
The  Supreme  Purpose  of  Life. 

In  many  of  his  plays  Shakespeare  portrays  the 
devious  and  tortuous  paths  which  most  men  pur- 
sue in  working  out  their  destiny.  In  Romeo  and 
Juliet  Shakespeare  gives  his  own  philosophy  of 
life,  and  shows  us  what  is  the  one  essential  thing 
needful  to  lift  a  man  to  a  level  with  the  gods.  All 
men  have  one  supreme  object  in  view,  no  matter 
what  their  condition  of  life  may  be ;  and  that  ob- 
ject is  happiness.  There  is  only  one  condition  of 
life  in  which  perfect  happiness  is  possible;  and 
that  condition  can  only  be  brought  about  by  be- 
ing in  love.  The  tragedy  of  the  play  was  only  the 
prelude  which  ushered  Romeo  and  Juliet  into  par- 
adise. We  have  already  seen  that  Romeo  had  no 
doubt  of  the  soul's  existence  after  death.  He 
again  refers  to  his  soul  when  he  says  '^My  bosom's 
lord  sits  lightly  on  his  throne."    This  joyous  feel- 


THE   WORLD'S    GREATEST    PSYCHIST.  17 

ing  was  the  result  of  his  dream.  *'I  dreamt  my 
lady  came  and  found  me  dead ;  and  breathed  such 
life  with  kisses  in  my  lips,  that  I  revived  and  was 
an  emperor/'  This  dream  was  truly  prophetic. 
True,  there  was  a  night  of  darkness  and  anguish 
to  pass  through  before  the  day  of  everlasting  hap- 
piness dawned  upon  them.  But  even  this  was  fore- 
shadowed in  the  words  ''my  lady  came  and  found 
me  dead.''  We  enter  this  world  through  turmoil 
and  suffering,  and  we  leave  it  under  like  condi- 
tions. And  Shakespeare  was  concerned  with  the 
death  of  Romeo  and  Juliet  only  in  so  far  as  it  was 
necessary  to  set  their  souls  free  to  begin  their  real 
life  in  the  world  of  spirits. 

The  Power  of  Love. 

Shakespeare's  purpose  is  clear  enough.  Romeo 
and  Juliet  had  no  penances  of  their  own  to  work 
out;  so  why  slTould  their  happiness  be  marred  by 
the  senseless  quarrels  of  their  parents  and  rela- 
tives? True  love  had  so  quickly  developed  the 
souls  of  these  young  people  that  they  were  fully 
prepared  to  enter  paradise.  But  flesh  and  blood 
cannot  enter  that  blissful  state;  so  they  had  i) 
pass  through  the  gates  of  death  before  they  could 
get  there.  They  could  not  lie  down  and  die,  in  a 
state  of  vigorous  bodily  health.     To  have  had 


18  SHAKESPEAKE: 

somebody  else  kill  them  would  have  left  regrets 
behind ;  which  would  have  kept  them  out  of  para- 
dise until  these  accounts  had  been  squared  up. 
There  was  only  one  way  out  of  the  dilemmc ;  and 
that  was  for  them  to  kill  themselves.  There  was 
no  question  of  cowardice  about  the  act.  Nor  djd 
they  kill  themselves  to  escape  their  troubles.  Our 
troubles  are  mostly  of  our  own  making;  and  we 
must  work  them  out  and  .square  up  our  accounts, 
or  death  will  bring  us  no  relief.  Romeo  and  Juliet 
had  no  such  debts  to  pay,  and  their  only  thought 
was  to  be  together. 

Having  Eyes,  We  See  Not. 

In  our  spiritual  blindness  we  fail  to  see  the  goal 
of  life,  which  Romeo  and  Juliet  reached  at  a  sin- 
gle bound.  The  lesson  of  life,  which  Shakespeare 
so  well  exemplifies  in  this  play,  is  that  we  only 
waste  time  and  make  matters  worse  by  trying  to 
regulate  other  people's  affairs.  Our  whole  duty 
consists  in  acting  our  part  in  the  drama  of  life, 
and  leaving  others  to  act  their  parts  unmolested. 
Our  body  is  merely  the  scaffolding  which  we  use 
temporarily  while  building  the  soul.  When  the 
soul  is  sufficiently  developed  to  take  charge  of 
itself,  nature  tears  the  scaffolding  down;  that  is, 
we  die  a  natural  death.    We  leave  the  body  and 


THE   WORLD'S   GREATEST    PSYOHIST.  19 

enter  upon  a  higher  and  better  life.  The  souls  of 
Eomeo  and  Juliet  had  already  reached  that  stage 
of  development  where  their  bodies  were  no  longer 
necessary,  so  they  tore  themselves  loose  from  their 
physical  moorings  and  started  on  their  journey  to 
paradise.  This  is  the  place  where  all  truly  great 
spirits  will  arrive  at  some  day.  But  we  shall  have 
to  take  a  soul  mate  with  us  and  go  in  as  lovers. 
No  unattached  bachelors,  old  maids  or  grass  wid- 
ows can  ever  enter  there.  It  is  a  place  where  joy 
is  unconfined  and  happiness  is  unending.  It  is  the 
final  home  of  the  good,  the  true,  the  just  and  the 
faithful.  It  is  the  place  which  Romeo  and  Juliet 
reached  as  early  in  life  as  it  is  possible  for  anybody 
to  reach ;  and  the  road  to  which  Hamlet  and  Mac- 
beth missed,  because  they  blindly  tried  to  thwart 
others  in  the  race  of  life,  instead  of  working  out 
their  own  destiny  in  an  honorable  and  straight- 
forward way.  * '  To  thine  own  self  be  true,  and  it 
must  follow,  as  the  night  the  day,  thou  canst  not 
then  be  false  to  any  man.'' 

The  Devil. 

The  devil  is  not  as  black  as  he  is  painted.  A 

devil  is  simply  a  misleading  spirit.    If  it  has  not 

already  occurred  to  you,  it  will  some  day  happen 

that  the  devil  will  appear  before  you  smiling,  with 


20  SHAKESPEARE: 

a  beautiful  scheme  of  how  to  get  rich  quick;  or 
how  to  become  President  of  the  United  States; 
or  how  to  triumph  over  your  bitterest  enemy ;  or 
how  to  make  the  man  or  woman  who  has  spurned 
you  throw  himself  or  herself '  at  your  feet  and 
ask  your  forgiveness.  But  just  as  Faust  traded 
his  soul  for  a  yearns  youthf ulness ;  and  Macbeth 
traded  his,  so  that  he  might  become  king  out  of 
the  natural  course  of  events ;  so  you  will  be  selling 
your  soul  to  the  devil  if  you  follow  the  advice  of 
spirits,  mediums  or  fortune-tellers  against  the 
dictates  of  your  own  conscience  or  judgment. 

Othello. 

Shakespeare  has  given  us  a  perfect  example 
of  a  devil  in  the  character  of  lago,  in  the  play  of 
Othello.  If  you  will  divest  lago  of  his  body,  and 
look  upon  his  words  as  suggestions  entering  into 
Othello's  mind  when  he  is  meditating  on  his  wife's 
conduct,  you  will  then  place  Othello  in  that  rela- 
tion to  his  familiar  spirit  which  you  and  I,  and 
every  other  human  being  sustains.  It  does  not 
matter  what  you  think  about  it.  It's  a  living  fact 
that  a  good  many  of  what  you  consider  your  own 
thoughts  are  merely  the  suggestions  of  your  famil- 
iar spirits. 


THE   WORLD'S   GREATEST   PSYCHIST.  21 

Mediumsliip. 

In  Macbeth,  Shakespeare  gives  us  the  whole 
philosophy  of  spirit  communications,  fortune-tel- 
ling and  divination.  When  the  wierd  sisters  told 
Macbeth  and  Banquo  of  the  great  honors  in  store 
for  them,  they  were  simply  doing  what  all  fisher- 
men do  every  day — using  bait  to  lure  their  prey 
into  their  own  power.  The  better  nature  of  both 
Banquo  and  Macbeth  warned  them  of  the  dangers 
ahead.  Banquo  says:  **'Tis  strange;  and  often- 
times to  win  us  to  our  harm,  the  instruments  of 
darkness  tell  us  truths,  to  betray  us  in  deepest 
consequence.'^  And  Macbeth  says:  *^This  super- 
natural soliciting  cannot  be  good ;  cannot  be  ill.  If 
ill,  why  hath  it  given  me  earnest  of  success,  com- 
mencing in  a  truth?  If  good,  why  do  I  yield  to 
that  suggestion  whose  horrid  image  doth  unfix  my 
hair  and  make  my  seated  heart  knock  at  my 
ribs?"  It  is  quite  true  that  each  one  of  us  is  in- 
terested in  our  own  future ;  but  it  is  also  true  that 
the  future  cannot  possibly  have  anything  in  store 
for  us  but  what  is  a  natural  development  or  un- 
f oldment  of  the  latent  powers  which  are  now  pres- 
ent within  us.  Shakespeare  presents  this  in  the 
words  of  Banquo,  who  says  to  the  witches:  *^To 
me  ye  speak  not.    If  you  can  look  into  the  seeds 


22  SHAKESPEARE: 

of  time,  and  say  which  grain  will  grow  and  which 
will  not,  speak  then  to  me,  who  neither  beg  nor 
fear  your  favors  nor  your  hate/' 

Our  Own  Judgment  the  Court  of  Last  Resort. 
What  is  the  lesson  which  Shakespeare  elucidates 
in  the  meeting  of  Macbeth  and  Banquo  with  the 
witches?  It  is  this — never  seek  outside  informa- 
tion about  the  future.  What  the  wierd  sisters 
told  Macbeth  was  true  enough.  Of  course,  it  was 
intended  to  lead  him  astray.  But  he  need  not  have 
gone  astray;  and  if  he  had  followed  the  dictates 
of  his  own  conscience  he  would  not  have  gone 
astray.  It  was  his  own  ambition,  to  be  king  out  of 
the  natural  order  of  things,  that  led  Macbeth  to 
ruin.  Banquo  was  jealous  of  the  partiality  shown 
Macbeth  and  asked  them  to  tell  him  something. 
This  was  where  he  did  wrong.  It  was  mere  sophis- 
try on  his  part  to  say  that  he  neither  begged  nor 
feared  their  favors  nor  their  hate.  The  only  fa- 
vors they  had  to  give  was  to  tell  him  something 
about  the  future.  It  was  this  he  asked  for,  and  it 
was  this  they  told  him  about,  to  the  destruction  of 
his  own  peace  of  mind.  Banquo  should  not  have 
asked  them  to  tell  him  about  his  future.  By  so  do- 
ing he  placed  himself  in  their  power,  and  enabled 
them  to  keep  him  guessing  at  the  riddle  of  their 


THE   WORLD'S   GREATEST   PSYCHIST.  23 

prophecy:    **Hail!      Lesser   than    Macbeth,    and 
greater.    Not  so  happy,  yet  much  happier.    Thou 
shalt  get  kings  though  thou  be  none.'* 
Spiritualism. 

Shakespeare  was  a  spiritualist ;  so  was  St.  Paul. 
But  while  St.  Paul  could  not  divest  himself  of  the 
notion  that  somehow  a  Christian  had  a  better  show 
in  the  next  world  than  a  Jew  or  a  pagan  had; 
Shakespeare  knew  that  the  spirit  world  is  just  as 
natural  as  this  world  is,  and  that  our  religious  be- 
liefs are  mere  shadows  of  the  truth.  If  you  kill 
a  chicken  by  wringing  its  neck,  the  spirit  of  thr:> 
chicken  passes  into  the  spirit  world  in  exactly  the 
same  manner  as  the  spirit  of  a  man  does,  when  be 
is  hung.  If  you  go  out  and  shoot  a  deer,  or  a  lion, 
or  a  rabbit,  the  spirit  of  the  deer,  lion  or  rabbit 
passes  into  the  spirit  world  in  the  same  manner  as 
does  the  spirit  of  a  soldier  when  he  is  shot  and 
killed.  Shakespeare  understood  this  perfectly. 
In  Henry  VI,  when  Lord  Talbot  realized  that  he 
and  his  army  were  sacrificed  through  the  jealous- 
ies of  York  and  Somerset,  he  said  to  his  son: 
**Come,  side  by  side  together  live  and  die;  and 
soul  with  soul  from  France  to  heaven  fly.'*  In 
King  John,  Philip  Faulconbridge  says  of  the  dead 
body  of  Prince  Arthur:  **From  forth  this  morsel 


24  SHAKESPEARE: 

of  dead  royalty,  the  life,  the  right  and  truth  of 
all  this  realm,  is  fled  to  heaven/'  Even  the  mur- 
derers which  Richard  III  sent  to  kill  his  brother, 
the  Duke  of  Clarence,  are  made  to  express  the  same 
truth.  They  told  Clarence  that  when  they  mur- 
dered him  it  would  release  him  ^'from  this  world's 
thraldom  to  the  joys  of  heaven.''  To  Henry  V 
the  herald  says:  ** Besides  in  mercy,  the  constable 
desires  thee  thou  wilt  mind  thy  followers  of  re- 
pentance ;  that  their  souls  may  make  a  sweet  and 
peaceful  retire  from  off  these  fields,  where,  wretch- 
es, their  poor  bodies  must  lie  and  fester." 
The  Soul  Immortal. 

In  the  play  of  King  John,  when  the  impatient 
Constance  enters  the  presence  of  the  King  of 
France,  he  exclaims:  *^Look,  who  comes  here!  a 
grave  unto  a  soul;  holding  the  eternal  spirit, 
against  her  will."  And  in  her  ravings  about  the 
imprisonment  of  her  son,  Constance  says ;  **He  will 
look  as  hollow  as  a  ghost,  as  dim  and  meagre  as 
an  ague's  fit,  and  so  he'll  die;  and,  rising  so 
again,  when  I  shall  meet  him  in  the  court  of  heav- 
en I  shall  not  know  him." 

Shakespeare  puts  into  the  mouth  of  Lord  Melun, 
when  dying,  a  fine  description  of  the  difference 
between  our  life  here  and  that  which  we  shall 


THE   WORLD'S   GREATEST   PSYCHIST.  25 

live  after  death,  where  deception  can  be  of  no 
possible  use  to  us:  ''Have  I  not  hideous  death  be- 
fore my  view,  retaining  but  a  quantity  of  life, 
which  bleeds  away,  even  as  a  form  of  wax  resolv- 
eth  from  his  figure  'gainst  the  fire?  What  in  the 
world  should  make  me  now  deceive,  since  I  must 
lose  the  use  of  all  deceit?  Why  should  I  then  be 
false,  since  it  is  true  that  I  must  die  here  and  liv » 
hence  by  truth  ? ' '  And  when  King  John  dies,  Faul- 
conb ridge  exclaims:  ''Art  thou  gone  so?  I  do  but 
stay  behind  to  do  the  office  for  thee  of  revenge, 
and  then  my  soul  shall  wait  on  thee  to  heaven, 
as  it  on  earth  has  been  thy  servant  still. '  * 
Death  Sets  the  Soul  Free. 

Shakespeare  puts  this  subject  of  death  before 
us  in  a  thousand  different  ways,  but  always  to  the 
same  purpose.  Death  is  merely  the  soul  leaving 
the  body.  The  soul,  the  spirit,  the  vital  force,  the 
intelligence,  the  living  entity  which  makes  us 
what  we  are,  lives  on  after  it  has  left  the  body. 
The  body  is  merely  an  incubator  in  which  the  soul 
is  developed.  The  body  is  a  shell  in  which  we  are 
imprisoned ;  and  at  death  we  break  open  this  shell 
and  escape  into  a  better  world.  There  is  no  mys- 
tery about  death,  except  in  our  own  ignorance. 
We  must  study  it  at  first  hand,  as  it  occurs  to 


26  SHAKESFEAEE. 

those  around  us,  and  as  it  manifests  itself  through- 
out the  whole  animal  kingdom.  We  do  not  real- 
ize what  either  life  or  death  means  as  long  as  we 
think  we  are  essentially  different  from  the  rest  of 
the  animal  kingdom.  Our  religious  ideas  are  sim- 
ply vain  imaginings. 

Psychotherapy. 

Shakespeare  was  a  Psychotherapist.  In  the  play 
of  Macbeth,  Malcolm,  speaking  of  the  king  of 
England,  says :  ^  ^  The  mere  despair  of  surgery,  he 
cures,  hanging  a  golden  stamp  about  their  necks, 
put  on  with  holy  prayers.''  And  when  Macbeth 
asks  his  doctor  why  he  cannot  cure  his  wife's  dis- 
ordered mind,  the  doctor  gives  us  the  essence  of 
psychotherapy  when  he  replies  that  *' therein  the 
patient  must  minister  to  herself."  It  is  immate- 
rial to  us  whether  the  doctor  understood  the  full 
import  of  his  words  or  not;  but  it  is  an  absolute 
fact  that  whenever  a  patient  is  cured  of  any  dis- 
ease, whether  of  the  mind  or  body,  he  cures  him- 
self. If  you  break  a  leg  and  call  in  a  doctor,  what 
does  the  doctor  do?  He  simply  puts  the  broken 
parts  in  as  nearly  their  normal  position  as  possi- 
ble. But  the  actual  repairing  and  healing  is  done 
by  nature.     But  ** nature"  in  this  instance  is  a 


THE   WORLD'S   GREATEST   PSYCHIST.  27 

very  indefinite  term.  In  each  ease  it  is  the  vital 
force,  or  the  soul  force,  which  constitutes  the  life 
of  the  patient.  When  you  are  the  patient,  it  is 
your  soul;  when  I  am  the  patient,  it  is  my  soul 
which  does  the  healing  and  restores  the  broken 
parts  to  normal  condition. 

Psychical  vs.  Physical. 

When  Christ  said  to  the  man,  **Take  up  thy  bed 
and  walk,"  what  happened?  When  you  are  driv- 
ing a  horse  with  a  heavy  load,  and  come  to  a  hill 
at  which  the  horse  balks,  although  you  well  know 
the  horse  is  able  to  draw  the  load  up  it,  what  hap- 
pens? Why,  essentially  the  same  thing  in  both 
these  cases.  You  whip  the  horse  and  he  pulls  the 
load  up  the  hill.  The  whip  did  not  make  the  load 
any  lighter  nor  the  horse  any  stronger.  By  using 
the  whip  you  merely  caused  the  horse  to  put  forth 
sufficient  energy  to  pull  the  load  up  the  hill.  The 
words  of  Christ  stimulated  the  man  to  try  to  get 
up  and  pick  up  his  bed  and  go  about  his  business. 
And  he  found  out  that  he  had  strength  enough  to 
do  these  things  when  he  tried.  If  the  horse  had 
not  been  strong  enough  to  pull  the  load  up  the 
hill,  no  amount  of  whipping  could  have  made  him 
do  it.    And  if  the  man  had  not  sufficient  latent 


28  SHAKISSPEARE: 

strength  to  enable  him  to  get  up  and  walk,  the 

words  of  Christ  could  not  have  made  him  do  so. 

Psychic  Force. 

All  force  is  psychic  force,  in  its  final  analysis. 
It  becomes  physical  force  to  us  when  we  can  see 
some  physical  links  in  the  chain  of  its  procedure. 
Some  drivers  could  have  urged  the  horse  on  with 
a  command  just  as  well  as  v/ith  a  whip.  Then 
the  two  cases  would  have  been  exactly  parallel 
— the  mind  of  the  man  acting  on  the  mind  of  the 
horse,  and  the  mind  of  Christ  acting  on  the  mind 
of  the  man.  The  horse  had  sufficient  strength  to 
pull  the  load  up  the  hill,  or  the  man's  command 
could  not  have  made  him  do  it;  and  the  bedridden 
man  had  sufficient  strength  to  get  up  and  carry 
his  bed  away,  or  Christ's  command  could  not  have 
enabled  him  to  do  so. 

Suggestive  Therapeutics. 

The  foregoing  paragraph  shows  us  the  real  na- 
ture of  Suggestion  as  a  curative  agent.  The 
friends  or  attendants  of  the  bedridden  man  had 
told  him  that  if  he  could  but  see  this  wonderful 
healer,  whom  everybody  was  talking  about,  he 
would  get  cured.  His  faith  or  confidence  was  so 
strongly  worked  up  that  it  only  needed  the  com- 


THE   WORLD'S   GREATEST   PSYCHIST.  29 

mand  of  the  person  on  whom  his  faith  rested  to 
bring  forth  his  utmost  efforts.  If  his  friends  could 
have  convinced  him  of  the  real  facts  of  the  case- 
namely,  that  he  was  strong  enough  to  take  up  his 
bed  and  walk  whenever  he  made  up  his  mind  to 
put  forth  the  effort — ^his  faith  in  himself  would 
have  cured  him,  just  as  surely  as  his  faith  in  Christ 
did. 

Faith  and  Works. 

Faith  is  simply  a  firm  belief  in  the  ultimate 
realization  of  our  highest  aspirations.  But  faith 
does  not  relieve  us  of  any  of  the  efforts  which  are 
necessary  for  the  accomplishment  of  our  purposes. 
A  few  months  ago,  when  business  was  very  dull, 
somebody  got  hold  of  the  idea  that  if  everybody 
would  say  that  business  was  good,  then  business 
would  be  good.  The  idea  was  acted  on;  and  the 
store  windows  were  placarded  with  the  legend, 
^^ BUSINESS  IS  GOOD.''  The  idea  was  puerile, 
and  had  its  inception  in  a  mind  that  was  meddling 
with  a  subject  it  knew  nothing  about.  Business 
was  bad,  and  to  say  that  it  was  good  was  a  mis- 
representation of  the  truth.  The  right  thing  to 
do  is  to  find  out  the  cause  of  poor  business,  do 
your  best  to  remove  it,  and  thus  encourage  your- 


so  SHAKESPEAEE: 

self  and  others  with  the  fact  that  business  is  im- 
proving. 

Good  Government. 

Human  nature  is  short  sighted.  It  wants  to 
get  results  without  putting  forth  the  necessary 
efforts  to  obtain  them.  Shakespeare  shows  that 
the  rank  and  file  of  humanity,  that  is,  the  working 
classes,  were  just  as  unreasonable  in  the  days  of 
the  Roman  Empire  as  they  were  in  the  days  of 
Jack  Cade.  And  we  have  abundant  evidence 
since  the  fire  that  they  are  just  as  senseless  and 
unreasonable  today  as  they  were  in  the  days  of 
Julius  Caesar.  Only  about  five  per  cent  of  men 
can  conduct  their  own  business  successfully.  How, 
then,  is  it  possible  for  them  to  conduct  other 
people 's  business  in  a  sucessf ul  manner  ? 
Majorities  Never  Rule  Wisely. 

Government  is  a  business.  And  as  only  about 
five  per  cent  of  any  given  community  know  how 
to  conduct  business  successfully,  it  follows  that 
only  this  five  per  cent  are  qualified  to  govern,  or 
to  select  those  who  are  able  to  govern  properly. 
For  this  reason  a  Republic  can  never  be  a  good 
form  of  government.  The  people,  that  is,  a  ma- 
jority of  them,  will  never  be  able  to  select  a  good 


THE   WORLD'S   GREATEST   PSYCHIST.  31 

government.  All  great  leaders,  from  Moses  to 
Roosevelt,  have  been  leaders,  not  because  the  peo- 
ple chose  them,  but  because  they  were  able  to 
control  the  people.  Leaders  who  are  the  people's 
choice  in  the  first  place  are  almost  without  ex- 
ception either  unprincipled  demagogues,  or  vain 
and  superficial  time-servers.  The  people  mean 
well  enough,  but  they  are  no  better  qualified  to 
choose  a  good  government  than  primary  school 
children  are  qualified  to  choose  a  good  Board  of 
Education.  In  either  case  they  lack  the  necessary 
knowledge  and  experience. 

A  FaUacy.  ' 

The  man  who  broke  several  sticks  of  wood,  one 
at  a  time  across  his  knee,  and  then  tied  a  like 
number  in  a  bundle  to  prove  that  they  could  not 
be  broken  in  that  way,  formulated  the  maxim 
that  'an  Union  There  Is  Strength.''  That  is  true 
enough  as  applied  to  sticks ;  but  it  is  not  true  pf 
living  things.  A  field  of  wheat  is  not  strong  and 
healthy  because  one  stalk  helps  another  to  grow, 
but  because  each  individual  stalk  is  able  to  appro- 
priate the  material  necessary  for  its  development. 
It  is  just  the  same  with  human  beings.  Every- 
thing depends  upon  the  individual;  not  upon  the 


32  SHAKSPEABE: 

masses.  When  living  things  move  in  overwhelm- 
ing numbers,  with  a  common  object  in  view,  they 
are  always  destructive ;  no  matter  whether  they  be 
locusts,  stampeded  cattle,  or  human  beings.  All 
constructive  work  is  the  result  of  individual  ef- 
fort. 

Human  Nature  Is  Always  the  Same, 

Shakespeare  has  drawn  his  characters  true  to 
nature;  and  therefore,  they  are  true  for  all  time 
and  for  all  nations.  What  could  suit  our  present 
condition  better  than  this  ** — the  law's  delay,  the 
insolence  of  office  and  the  spurns  that  patient  merit 
of  the  unworthy  takes — ''?  Shakespeare  had  the 
prototype  of  Francis  J.  Heney  in  mind  when  he 
said:  ** — but  man,  proud  man,  drest  in  a  little 
brief  authority,  most  ignorant  of  what  he's  most 
assured,  like  an  angry  ape,  plays  such  fantastic 
tricks  before  high  heaven  as  make  the  angels 
weep ;  who,  with  our  spleens,  would  all  themselves 
laugh  mortal/'  And  of  those  unfit  office  holders 
who  always  abuse  their  powers,  and  which  are 
now  more  numerous  than  ever  before,  he  well 
says :  **'0,  it  is  excellent  to  have  a  giant's  strength 
but  it  is  tyrannous  to  use  it  as  a  giant.  Could 
great  men  thunder  as  Jove  himself  does,  Jove 
would  ne'er  be  quiet,  for  every  pelting,  petty  of- 


THE   WOBLD'S   GBEATEST   FSYCHIST.  S3 

ficer  would  use  his  heaven  for  thunder;  nothing 
but  thunder.*' 

Looking  into  the  Future. 

When  we  consider  how  imperfect  our  physical 
vision  is,  it  is  not  so  very  surprising  that  our 
psychic  vision  is  still  more  imperfect.  And  when 
we  further  consider  that  our  psychic  faculties 
are  subject  to  so  many  disturbing  influences,  we 
ought  not  to  wonder  that  we  so  often  go  astray. 
Still,  as  this  is  one  of  the  most  important  faculties 
of  the  soul,  it  deserves  our  most  serious  considera- 
tion and  our  untiring  efforts  in  its  development. 
In  the  temples  of  old  there  were  altars  before 
which  the  supplicants  appeared  to  ask  for  the  aid 
of  their  gods  in  the  matter  about  to  be  undertak- 
en. Each  temple  was  dedicated  to  some  particu- 
lar god  whose  favor  was  sought  by  the  sup- 
plicant. In  the  play  of  *^The  Two  Noble  Kins- 
men," by  Shakespeare  and  Fletcher,  three  altars 
are  represented  in  one  of  the  scenes.  The  altar 
of  Mars,  who  is  the  god  of  war ;  the  altar  of  Venus, 
who  is  the  goddess  of  love,  and  the  altar  of  Diana, 
who  is  the  goddess  of  maidenhood.  The  two  noble 
kinsmen  are  in  love  with  the  same  maid.  As  each 
of  the  kinsmen  thinks  he  has  just  as  much  right  to 
love  the  maiden  as  tlio  othor  has.  neither  of  them 


34  SHAKESPEARE: 

will  retire  in  the  other's  favor.  So  they  agree  to 
leave  it  to  the  maid's  choice  and  whichever  loses 
agrees  to  relinquish  all  claims  to  the  maid's  af- 
fections. But  the  maid  thinks  they  are  both  so 
perfect  that  she  is  unable  to  make  a  choice.  They 
have  already  tried  to  settle  the  matter  with  the 
aid  of  their  swords;  but  they  were  so  evenly 
matched  that  neither  gained  any  advantage  over 
the  other.  So  the  Duke  of  Athens,  who  is  the 
maid's  brother-in-law,  sets  them  a  feat  of  strength; 
the  winner  to  have  the  maid  and  the  loser  to  lose 
his  head.  All  the  interested  parties  were  satis- 
fied with  this  arrangement.  Each  of  the  three 
principals  appeared  before  one  of  the  altars  and 
asked  for  a  sign  of  success.  One  of  the  kinsmen 
asked  for  and  was  given  what  he  thought  was 
a  favorable  sign  from  Mars.  AVhich  meant 
that  he  would  triumph  over  his  adversary. 
The  other  supplicated  Venus  and  got  a  fa- 
vorable sign;  which  meant  that  he  would 
be  successful  in  winning  the  lady  for  his  bride. 
The  maid  appeared  before  the  altar  of  Diana  and 
received  assurance  that  she  would  be  gathered; 
which  she  understood  to  mean  that  a  husband 
would  claim  her.  This  was  not  remarkable  in  that 
there  was  no  chance  for  her  to  lose.    However,  the 


THE   WORLD'S   GREATEST   PSYCHIST.  35 

trial  of  strength  took  place,  and  after  a  long  tussle 
the  man  who  had  supplicated  Mars  won.  The 
victor  took  a  ride  on  horseback  to  celebrate  his 
victory,  while  the  loser  was  taken  to  jail  to  be  be- 
headed. The  victor's  horse  stumbled  and  fell  on 
its  rider.  In  a  dying  state  they  took  him  into  his 
kinsman's  presence  just  as  he  was  going  to  be  be- 
headed. The  dying  man  stopped  the  execution 
and  turned  his  bride  over  to  his  kinsman.  The 
oracles  had  kept  faith  with  all  of  them. 

Fortune-TeUing. 

What  agency  was  behind  these  ancient  oracles? 
Human  agency.  Hidden  behind  these  altars  was 
some  person  who  was  the  ancient  prototype  of  the 
modern  fortune-teller.  The  oracle  was  most  like- 
ly a  priest  of  the  temple  who  could  see  the  suppli- 
cant and  hear  the  supplication  without  being  seen 
or  heard,  and  being  expert  at  the  business  he  could 
easily  produce  manifestations  in  harmony  with 
the  desires  of  the  supplicant.  Witches,  mediums, 
oracles  and  fortune-tellers  are  essentially  the  same 
thing;  although,  as  a  matter  of  course,  each  one 
has  his  or  her  individual  characteristics.  But  it 
does  not  matter  how  honest  a  witch,  medium,  an 
oracle  or  a  fortune-teller  may  be,  we  are  seeking 


36  SHAKESPEABE: 

knowledge  through  improper  channels  if  we  visit 
them.  We  must  have  faith  in  our  own  intuition 
and  rely  on  our  own  psychic  vision,  or  we  shall  be 
led  astray  in  the  same  manner  that  Macbeth  was. 

Sleep. 

Shakespeare  constantly  reminds  us  of  the  simil- 
arity between  sleep  and  death.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  they  are  identical.  When  we  go  to  sleep  we 
die.  The  body  is  worn  out  and  exhausted.  But 
the  disability  is  only  temporary.  The  soul  knows 
that  by  allowing  the  body  a  few  hours  rest  it  will 
be  restored  to  a  condition  in  which  it  can  be 
used  again.  Like  a  battleship,  it  needs  to  be  laid 
up  periodically  for  repairs.  And  just  as  the  Naval 
Board  sends  a  battleship  to  the  junk  heap  when  it 
cannot  be  restored  to  a  state  of  efficiency,  so  the 
soul  discards  the  body  when  it  can  no  longer  make 
use  of  it — and  we  sleep  the  sleep  of  death.  But  it 
is  only  the  body  that  sleeps;  and  it  is  only  the 
body  that  dies. 

Subconsciousness. 

Sleep  may  be  called  the  laboratory  of  the  school 
of  life  in  which  we  experiment  with  our  soul 
forces.  The  student  in  chemistry  experiments 
with   the   inanimate   forces   of   nature.     In   our 


THE   WOELD'S   GREATEST   PSYCHIST.  37 

dreams  we  are  experimenting  with  living  forces- - 
that  is,  the  forces  of  onr  own  souls.  All  experi- 
ments are  confusing  to  the  beginner.  And  when 
the  subject  in  hand  is  part  of  our  lives,  the  ex- 
periments become  more  and  more  complicated 
and  confusing.  But  they  are  not  unsolvable.  It 
takes  time,  patience,  and  perseverance  to  learn 
cookery  or  carpentry,  or  to  thoroughly  understand 
any  trade  or  vocation.  How,  then,  can  you  expect 
to  unravel  the  secrets  of  mind  and  soul  without 
devoting  your  earnest  efforts  to  intelligently 
understand  them.  This  is  the  secret  of  your  fail- 
ure. Like  children,  you  are  constantly  seeking 
by  some  roundabout  method  a  knowledge  of  your 
inmost  life  which  can  be  obtained  only  and  direct- 
ly through  your  own  centers  of  intelligence. 
Prescience. 

The  future  is  before  us.  And  whatever  you  may 
think  about  it,  your  future  has  a  great  deal  more 
influence  on  your  life  than  you  imagine  it  has. 
When  you  send  your  children  to  school  or  college, 
you  do  not  expect  them  to  remain  there  perma- 
nently. You  expect  them  to  advance,  grade  by 
grade,  till  they  graduate.  Neither  do  your  chil- 
dren expect  to  stay  in  school  or  college  perma- 
nently.   They  look  forward  to  the  day  of  gradua- 


38  SHAKESPEARE: 

tion  as  a  day  of  emancipation  or  triumph.  The 
day  of  graduation  or  fear  that  they  may  not  be 
prepared  to  graduate  when  the  day  comes  spurs 
them  on  in  their  work  and  makes  them  work  a 
good  deal  harder  than  they  otherwise  would.  We 
are  all  now  taking  lessons  in  the  school  of  life.  And 
some  time  in  the  future  we  shall  have  to  gradu- 
ate. You  may  not  realize  it  in  just  this  form. 
But  there  is  a  feeling  within  you  all  that  things 
are  not  right.  The  lessons  of  life  are  just  as  irk- 
some to  us  as  school  lessons  are  to  our  children. 
But  just  as  we  know  that  our  children  will  gradu- 
ate when  the  time  comes,  so  shall  we  graduate 
from  the  school  of  life  when  we  have  prepared 
ourselves  for  the  event. 

**By  their  fruits  ye  shaU  know  them.'* 

Human  nature  was  like  an  open  book  to  Shakes- 
peare. His  characters  are  types,  of  which  copies 
are  to  be  found  among  all  peoples  and  at  all 
times.  Hamlet  and  Macbeth  and  Richard  IH 
show  us  the  futility  of  trying  to  succeed  by  re- 
moving other  people  from  our  path  by  unfair  and 
tinnatural  methods.  In  *^ Romeo  and  Juliet''  we 
see  how  the  natural  course  of  events  is  marred 
and  botched  by  the  senseless  interference  of  those 
who  ought  to  be  the  last  to  meddle  with  the  hap- 


THE   WORIiD'S   GREATEST   PSYCHIST.  39 

piiiess  of  their  own  children.    As  the  Prince  put» 

it:— 

Well  may  you  mourn,  my  lords,  now  wise  too  late, 
These  tragic  issues  of  your  mutual  hate. 
From  private  feuds  what  dire  misfortunes  flow! 
Whate'er  the  cause,  the  sure  effect  is  woe. 

Shakespeare  also  shows  us  that  by  strict  atten- 
tion to  our  own  affairs  we  can  successfully  work 
out  our  own  destiny  and  triumph  over  the  most 
adverse  conditions  of  life.  Philip  Faulconbridge, 
in  the  play  of  "King  John,''  shows  vis  how  ster- 
ling honesty  of  purpose  w^ithout  deceit  or  the 
least  trace  of  false  appearances  will  lift  us  out  of 
the  most  menacing  and  seemingly  hopeless  cir- 
cumstances in  which  it  is  possible  for  a  man  to  be 
placed.  The  character  of  Bolingbroke  was  the 
antithesis  of  that  of  Macbeth.  Both  were  great 
men,  and  both  were  psychists  and  received  mes- 
sages from  the  spirit  world.  But  whereas  Mac- 
beth made  use  of  his  occult  knowledge  to  further 
his  own  nefarious  purposes.  Bolingbroke  apprais- 
ed this  knowledge  at  its  true  value — that  is,  as  a 
beacon  light  or  guide  which  may  either  point  out 
the  best  path  to  follow,  or  warn  us  of  dangers  to 
avoid.  These  occult  intuitions  always  leave  us 
free  to  follow  our  own  judgment.  Then,  if  we  go 
wrong  the   fault   Rnd   the   consequences   are   our 


40  SHAKESPEARE: 

own.  If  we  choose  rightly,  then  success  and  hap- 
piness is  ours.  Macbeth  chose  the  wrong  path 
and  went  down  to  an  ignominious  death  and  the 
torments  of  hell.  Bolingbroke  chose  the  right 
path,  and  consequently  he  achieved  success  and 
glory  here  and  entered  into  the  regions  of  ever- 
lasting happiness  after  death.  The  indefiniteness 
and  uncertainty  which  surround  all  psychic  knowl- 
edge is  well  illustrated  in  Henry  IV 's  dying  re- 
marks.   He  asks  of  Warwick : — 

Henry   IV — Doth   any   name   particular   belong   unto   the 
lodging  where  I  first  did  swoon? 

Warwick — 'Tis  called  Jerusalem,  my  noble  lord. 

King  Henry — Laud  be  to  God!   even  there  my  life  must 

end. 
It  hath  been  prophesied  to  me  for  many  years, 
1  should  not  die  but  in  Jerusalem; 
Which  vainly  I  supposed  the  Holy  Land: 
But  bear  me  to  that  chamber;  there  I'll  lie; 
in  that  Jerusalem  shall  Harry  die. 

The  New  Thought  Movement. 
There  is  a  flood  of  New  Thought  books  and  mag- 
azines floating  about  the  world  just  now.  And 
they  are  doing  good  by  making  people  think 
about  things  they  never  thought  of  before.  But 
thought  is  not  a  force.  You  cannot  sit  down  in 
your  kitchen  and  ^Hhink''  your  work  done.    You 


THE   WORLD'S   GREATEST   PSYOHIST.  41 

may  think  of  an  easier  way  of  doing  it,  but  you 
must  do  the  work  or  get  somebody  else  to  do  it, 
or  it  will  not  be  done.  A  prize  fighter  gets  a  train- 
er to  show  him  some  new  punches  so  that  he  may 
overcome  his  adversary;  but  the  prize-fighter  has 
to  do  the  punching.  His  trainer  cannot  do  that 
for  him.  It  is  just  the  same  with  your  higher 
powers.  You  must  develop  your  own  psychic 
powers.  Life  is  a  journey,  and  there  are  many 
rough  places.  There  is  no  way  of  avoiding  these 
rough  places — they  are  in  our  path  to  develop  our 
moral  courage  by  overcoming  them.  Every  obsta- 
cle in  life  that  you  overcome  makes  you  stronger. 
Life  is  a  battle,  and  every  time  you  retreat  before 
an  enemy  you  paralyze  your  souFs  efforts.  No 
matter  whether  your  enemy  is  in  the  body  or  out 
of  it — for  there  is  not  so  much  difference  as  you 
may  imagine.  Behind  every  evil-minded  man 
there  is  one  of  more  evil-minded  spirits ;  and  your 
life's  work  is  at  a  standstill  till  you  have  overcome 
this  enemy.  This  is  the  lion  in  your  path  which, 
in  a  spiritual  sense,  every  one  has  to  meet  and 
vanquish.  The  wind  is  tempered  to  the  shorn 
lamb.  Your  trials  will  be  no  greater  than  your 
strength  can  bear;  but  you  must  take  the  initia- 
tive in  working  out  your  own  salvation.    Then,  if 


42  SiJAKESPBAEE: 

you  need  help,  it  will  be  forthcoming.  But  don't 
try  to  work  out  your  schemes  of  ambition  with  the 
aid  of  spirits  and  f ortime-teliers ;  because  if  you 
do,  you  will  surely  get  left  in  the  mire  of  defeat 
and  disgrace,  just  as  Macbeth  was  wiien  he  says : 
*'I  pull  in  resolution  and  begin  to  doubt  the  equiv- 
ocation 01  tbe  fiend  that  lies  like  tiie  truth.'' 

Inherited  Powers. 

Oiir  ^'Ki;^^  iiiui'i-ited  their  developmvuilal  powurr; 
from  our  parents,  v/liich  have  been  acquired  little 
by  little  through  an  almost  limitless  line  of  ances- 
tors, who  have  (^ach  advanced  a  step  in  the 
scale  of  intelligence.  While  we  remain  in  the 
body  we  are  still  in  an  immature  and  undeveloped 
state.  But  the  unfolding  of  our  menial  powers 
brings  within  our  consciousness  the  first  glimmer- 
ings of  the  real  significance  of  life.  And  it  is  be- 
cause our  early  inquiries  in  this  direction  are 
warped  or  smothered  by  our  early  religious  teach- 
ings that  we  know  so  little  about  ourselves.  We 
have  not  fallen  from  a  higher  siate.  Our  ances- 
tors were  greater  barbarians  than  we  are.  Our 
ancestors  can  leach  us  nothing  of  any  great  value, 
for  whatever  they  achieved  that  Vvas  in  auy  way 
valuable  to  mni^kind,  they  transmitted  to  their 
children,  a.  \  born  in  us.     There- 


THE   WORLD'S   GSBATBST    PSYCHIST.  43 

fore,  ilie  loss  of  our  great  libraries,  museums,  art 
collections  and  architectural  monuments  is  a  sen- 
timental calamity,  not  an  irrcpfirablo  mio. 

Seers  and  Prophets. 
True  poetry  is  the  language  of  seers.  The 
glimpses  of  the  spirit  world  which  all  great  souls 
sometimes  get  cannot  be  adequaiely  described  in 
ordinary  language,  hence  Vae  value  of  poetry  as 
a  porthole  through  which  we  look  into  the  spirit 
world.  Longfellow  is  a  true  seer,  and  describes 
many  spiritual  scenes;  but  Milton  had  no  spir- 
itual insight,  and  his  word  pictures  are  mere  poet- 
ical cliromos.  Of  course,  we  all  see  spirits,  and  the 
spirit  world  in  our  dreams,  but  as  this  is  part  of 
our  every-day  life  we  fail  to  place  any  value  on  it, 
and,  like  the  rest  of  our  surrounding  circum- 
stances, it  ensnares  and  enslaves  us  because  we 
supinely  submit  to  its  influences.  This  is  fate.  We 
must  overcome  these  adverse  circumstances  by 
our  own  unaided  efforts,  because  this  is  the  only 
way  we  can  reach  the  goal  of  life  and  enter  para- 
dise. The  prophetic  faculty,  prescience,  or  previ- 
sion, has  nothing  in  common  with  mere  fortune- 
telling.  It  is  a  developmental  effort  of  the  soul, 
a  kind  of  searchlight  thrown  ahead  in  the  pathway 
of  life  that  gives  i;  -  n  glimpse  of  the  fuiure  as  it 


44  SHAKESEPAEE: 

will  be  realized  in  the  natural  course  of  events. 
The  time  it  takes  to  reach  this  foreshadowed  stage 
of  development  depends  entirely  upon  our  own 
efforts. 

Obstructions  to  Bight  Living. 

Every  person  living  is  cognizant  of  the  many 
worries  and  discouragements  which  we  all  meet 
with  in  our  daily  intercourse  with  one  another. 
In  fact,  all  systems  of  government,  all  social  cus- 
toms, all  religious  creeds  and  all  industrial  organ- 
izations have  for  their  object  the  regulation  or 
correction  of  these  very  evils.  And  all  govern- 
ments, religions  and  organizations  fail  because 
they  are  based  on  an  almost  total  ignorance  of 
human  nature ;  that  is,  the  real  nature  and  signifi- 
cance of  life.  Every  living  thing,  whether  man, 
woman,  dog  or  fish,  has  the  inherent  right  to  live 
its  own  life  in  its  own  way,  without  being  inter- 
fered with  by  any  other  living  thing. 
The  Eeal  Nature  of  Life. 

Every  individual  has  within  itself  the  germs 
of  godhood.  It  is  the  purpose  of  life  to  develop 
these  individual  sovereign  powers.  Man  is  the 
only  real  personal  God.  The  God  of  the  universe 
is  not  a  person,  as  we  understand  the  term.  He 
has  neither  mind  nor  will.    He  has  no  initiative 


THE   WORLD'S   GREATEST   PSYCHIST.  45 

power.  He  cannot  change  his  character.  He  must 
do  as  he  is  doing.  Man  has  these  personal  attri- 
butes and  the  power  of  initiative,  which  God  has 
not.  Man  can  change  and  improve  his  own  char- 
acter, which  God  cannot  do.  Therefore,  man 
is  superior  to  God.  We  are  not  like  God,  and  we 
are  not  the  children  of  God  in  any  true  sense  of 
the  word ;  we  are  the  children  of  our  parents,  and 
have  acquired  our  personal  attributes  through 
the  experiences  of  our  ancestors.  We  have  inher- 
ited from  God  the  substance  of  our  souls,  which  is 
indestructible  and  cannot  cease  to  exist.  Whether 
we  want  to  live  or  not  is  nothing  to  the  purpose; 
we  cannot  die.  The  real  nature  of  life,  then,  is 
its  self -development  and  self-control.  We  are  crea- 
tures of  circumstances  only  because  we  are  im- 
mature and  weak.  No  power  outside  of  ourselves 
is  as  strong  as  the  power  within  us.  No  man,  no 
combination  of  men,  not  all  the  angels  and  devils 
and  human  beings  in  the  universe,  have  the  right 
or  the  power  to  make  us  do  anything  which  our 
own  intelligence  does  not  approve. 


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